Killin' The Kill

The Blue Jackets expected to have a good penalty kill this season. If you recall the early weeks of January, it was the one safe compliment you could pay this club.

The kill hasn't been as good as expected, though. It's been better.

Over the last 14 games, the Blue Jackets have allowed one power play goal. It was a 5-on-3 goal by Detroit in Joe Louis Arena on March 10. The Jackets haven't allowed a 5-on-4 goal since a loss in Anaheim on Feb. 18 -- more than a month ago.

In those 11 games, the Blue Jackets have killed 32 of 33 penalties (96.9 percent), climbing to third in the NHL at 86.6 percent. Only Boston (92.2 percent) and Ottawa (88.4 percent) have been better this season.

There are actually two impressive numbers in that previous stat. The 96.9 percent, obviously, but also the fact that the Blue Jackets have been shorthanded only 33 times in their last 14 games, or 2.3 times per game. In Tuesday's 4-3 win over Nashville, the Jackets took one penalty and were short-handed only once.

"Guys are making a conscious effort of using their legs and not their sticks to check," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "You get into a lot of problems when you end up reaching. Some of it, too, is how we’ve managed the puck. We haven’t turned it over and put ourselves in desperate situations where you have to reach."

The Blue Jackets are dead-last in the NHL in scoring, putting up only 2.13 per game. They are 28th on the power play. It is their goaltending (Sergei Bobrovsky), defensive play (all positions) and penalty kill that is keeping them afloat.

Side dishes:

-- No word on who starts in goal Friday. I don't think Wiki-leaks could get this out of Richards. But Richards did say he thought Bobrovksy has shown signs of getting tired. "We’ll have to watch it. I saw a little bit of it (Tuesday) morning during the skate. I was watching defensemen shoot on him, and he wasn’t as clean on those shots. So it’s something we’re going to have to pay attention to." Richards said goaltending coach Ian Clark returns late tonight from a trip to Europe. Like most goaltending coaches, he knows his goaltenders on a different level than the coach, so Clark will be consulted before a started for Friday is confirmed and made public. It's not out of the question that Steve Mason gets the nod, either here or Saturday in Nashville. Bobrovsky has started the last seven games, but he's also had two days between games twice this week.

-- Clark's been gone a week. Asked, jokingly, if he's urged Clark to stay in Europe until Bobrovsky cools off -- goaltenders and goaltending coaches are EXTREMELY superstitious -- Richards said: "I've tried to cancel his return ticket," Richards said. Then, he added, "Sergei deserves most of the credit because he's the one who's stopping the puck and playing so well for us. But Clarkie deserves a lot of credit, too. He's worked really hard with Sergei."

-- D Adrian Aucoin skated today and appears ready to play. It's unclear if or where he'll fit in the lineup on Friday against the Flames.

-- LW R.J. Umberger did not skate today because of bumps and bruises. He's expected to play against the Flames.

-- RW Nick Foligno said he was fine Tuesday after colliding with Nashville's Taylor Beck in the second period. It was a weird sequence. "I never even saw the guy," Foligno said. "I was skating, making a turn and wham!" Beck appeared to see Foligno coming at the last second. He stiffened just before impact, leaving Foligno to take the brunt of the impact. "My neck whipped pretty bad," Foligno said. "My ears were ringing. I guess I literally got by bell rung." Foligno was taken to the 'quiet room' that each NHL club is required to provide, but after passing his cognitive tests, he was back on the ice for the start of the third period. He's good to go vs. the Flames.

-- Richards said the Blue Jackets learned the hard way on Feb. 7 - a 3-4 OT loss to Calgary -- that the Flames can pick apart a team with "stretch" passes, from deep in their own zone to the far blue line. "Last time we played them it was their stretch game, just zipping it up the ice quick," Richards said. "We gave up lots of rush chances. We’ve played some teams – Phoenix will play that way – but Calgary was the first team to really challenge us in that way, and it was mostly their defensemen. Bouwmeester, Wideman and Giordano can skate with it, but they’re very good passers, too."

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